What Exactly Does a DMC Do?
A DMC (Destination Management Company) is the company which works behind the scenes to make magic happen during your holiday. At the lower end, this is the package tour operator which got you to Marbella on a cheap deal.
At the higher end we are the people who make magic happen. We have recreated Lord of the Rings parties, hired All Blacks, presented museum pieces to VIPs. We have juggled schedules to avoid inclement weather, reunited people with lost items, arranged visits to doctors and dentists. We have punctuated special days with meaningful people, presents, and desserts. We have rented private houses when there is no availability. Ensured Ritchie McCaw is flying your helicopter. Ambushed your husband with Maori warriors on a remote track. Found exactly the right Asian fusion chef for the family in a particular lodge. Arranged for a "chance meeting" with a nuclear physicist on Waiheke Island who shares a specialisation.
All of th
ose are real examples. And as you can imagine there are many many more.
These however are the exception - most of our time is spent understanding our clients and then delivering to them what they want. We wander the country, every year, inspecting properties, meeting people, sweet talking charismatic NZers into spending time with our clients. We have famously created a suite of Maori experiences as we have a soft spot for our indigenous people. We have several hundred suppliers in our state-of-the-art computer systems, all kept up to date. All regularly visited and vetted. We have a collegiate environment where we double-check each others itineraries, suggest to and learn from each other, and all strive to end every day knowing more than we did at the start. This is a sophisticated powerhouse which famously turned around super-custom itineraries in 24 hours pre-Covid.
We have experience of delivering this country in all sorts of different ways to all sorts of different people with all sorts of different agendas and styles of travel.
When people point out special "super agents" in different capitals of the world - they honestly wouldn't have a chance of delivering anything special if it were not for people like us. ((my opinion is well known that a good "super agent" is worth their weight in gold, mainly because of their knowledge of their client and the trust they enjoy. It's just not possible for them to have expert knowledge of every country they contract. The very best take a month out and we work hard to show them as much as we can here - a fraction of what is available, and it can date quickly - but it gives valuable shared reference points.))